At the Sheffield Demo yesterday the RMT contingent where carrying a banner with a huge picture of Bob Crow on it, with the slogan- Bobs right Bollocks to the Cuts. I attached a picture of a T-Shirt with the same image. This isnt the first time I have come across the Bob Crow cult. At Vestas we had that stuff about hiring a helicopter and I heard a RMT official telling the workers that ordinary members can ring up Bob anytime of the day or night on his mobile and he will deal with their issues.

I dont know whether this official RMT merchandising or one particular star struck branch. But I think as a group whose inflence in the RMT is strong need to be clear how Bob’s cult of personality is destructive to a rank and file movement in the RMT. It also isnt helpful when workers see the answer to their unions problems is to elect a Bob Crow type demagoge. We want accountable trade union leaders willing to organise and lead there members, not all powerful barons who see the fight against the governement as a personal war and the members as there willing battalions.

Otherwise where will we end up next- Icons of Sewotka on demonstrations? A maoist Marx/Engels/Lenin/Stalin/Mao style banner with past leaders of the T&G/Unite (with Jack Jones as Lenin)?

martin ohrsaid,

Hold up here. Crow’s not a terrible man, he’s a bit more left-wing and a bit more militant than your average british union leader; he’s a bit less left-wing and a bit less militant than he was before he was leader etc etc etc, but he’s pleasant enough if you get stuck next to him on a picket line or a demo or whatever.

In fact like most union leaders if you stick him on question time or any questions or the today programme then he makes a decent job of communicating basic trades union and socialist ideas. If you get stuck on a train with them or -heaven forbid- you have to put them up for the night, you’ll find they have all sorts of disconnected wacky politics.

What amazes me is that he is no better (or worse) than the leader of my union of that of the NUT or ASLEF when it comes to posturing, selling out action or generally covering his own arse first and foremost. But I think hell would freeze over before any of them were immortalised by any but the saddest of their members. (I have to self-censor commenting on what would be the general reaction to a image of my union leader being used for anything other than turning milk sour.)

But DaveK is right that the strange cult that believes Bob Crow’s words are anything other than the throwaway lies of your typical bullshitting union leader is a bad thing. I really don’t care that much what he says about cuts, I want to know what he will allow his members to do about them.

The general visual image that we have of union leaderships I think is more or less valid here too:: that they are the skin on a pan of custard -risen to the top and then sat there as a viscous, sickly, unpalatable layer suffocating the membership until the temperature below rises enough for the membership to bubble over…etc…etc (I might have got a bit carried away with my analogy here)

In summary; we should try to replace the crow’s of this world with something better, while recognising that he’s might be a tosser, but he’s not the worst tosser -or something like that.

First of all a rebuke to Shiraz Towers- If you asked I would have given you better copy then a tossed out email.

However saying that I will stand by what I said with a few clarifications. As Trade Union leaders go Crow is definitely one of the better ones. He is willing to publicly fight the corner of RMT members in struggle- which is much more then can be said for Derek Simpson or Dave Prentis.

Saying all that he is not as I understand it on a average workers wage, his politics are pretty dreadful Stalinism and lets not forget that he was the main cheer leader for the reactionary nonsense that was No 2 EU.

The cult of Bob is bizarre and unhealthy. Socialists should seek to tear down the cult not build it up.

charliethechulosaid,

“Thank God Alex Gordon (RMT President) seems to call the shots more than he does.”: that would be the Alex Gordon who claims to be a “libertarian” yet supported the Stalinist “No2EU” campaign, would it?

SteveHsaid,

What this post is really saying is that the supporters of Crow are imbeciles. For cult leaders need imbeciles. I guess this ties in with the whole lets have faith in the ruling class politics of this site.